Refereeing career

He is most remembered for refereeing the notorious 1954 Battle of Berne and the first leg of the 1960-61 second round tie in the European Cup between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. In the closing minutes of that match Ellis waved down a flag as Sandor Kocsis strode into the Madrid penalty area, and awarded a penalty when the Hungarian was fouled. The resulting score equalised the tie. Further, considerable, controversy was occasioned by Reg Leafe in his handling of the second leg in Barcelona.

Ellis also journeyed with the English touring side in Argentina in the Summer of 1953. He was the referee in charge of the abandoned game in Buenos Aires against Argentina on 17 May when it rained so much that he called the players off the field after 23 minutes. This tour began, three days before, with the representative match in the River Plate stadium. Ellis had been bitten by a mosquito and been told he could not officiate but he refused to follow the medical advice and was later dubbed 'the yellow rat' by some of the English players for his performance.